


clenched teeth, no words (oh, this, this is taking its toll)

by flyingfalconflower12



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Dark Rey (Star Wars), Dark Side Rey, F/M, Force Visions, Heavy Angst, Lightsabers, Reylo - Freeform, Sith Rey, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Trailer, Title from "Start Over" by Imagine Dragons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 10:22:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20445566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingfalconflower12/pseuds/flyingfalconflower12
Summary: An angsty one-shot based off of Dark!Rey from the new TRoS trailer :)Post-TLJ, pre-TRoS





	clenched teeth, no words (oh, this, this is taking its toll)

"Kylo Ren."

Kylo spins, glancing at the still-locked door and then back at the source of the voice.

_ I was alone. _

_ And... _

_ I still am? _

"No," says that same voice, this time in front of him, and he turns around again.

Standing across the room is the faded, flickering image of an old, shriveled man wearing a black cloak, his face hidden in the shadow of his hood.

"Who are you?" demands Kylo, clenching the armrests on his black throne.

The man simply throws back his head and laughs. When his hood falls off Kylo freezes--the man's eyes are a gleaming yellow-red, the mark of a Sith.

"No," he breathes. "Aren't you all--"

The man grins with his mouth of missing teeth, and Kylo feels his blood run cold. "We are. From a...  _ certain _ point of view."

As Kylo stares, the man slowly starts to become more corporeal, rapidly gaining solid shape until he looks almost real.

"You see," he says, still grinning his grotesque smile, "I  _ was  _ dead. Until your old friend Snoke--" he looks pleased with Kylo's horrified reaction--  _ "revived _ me. Of course, he didn't know it, but ever since he discovered that black ring of his, his body was a vessel for my spirit to flow through. Until, of course, you killed him. It was a valiant effort, Ren; I'll respect that. However, then I needed a new vessel. I'd always thought it was going to be you, but you just weren't  _ enough. _ "

He raises his eyebrows.

"It was then that I sensed an awakening." Kylo balks and the old man steps closer, his arms outstretched as if offering something to Kylo. "You can tell where this leads. I sense it."

"Not Rey," says Kylo. "You wouldn't  _ dare." _

"Oh no, not yet," replies the Sith, "but I have plans for her. I just thought I'd show you first."

"Who do you think you are?" Kylo demands, standing up, but the man doesn't respond, only flickering out of existence for a fleeting moment and reappearing by Kylo's side.

Kylo jumps, glaring. The man smiles wickedly. "Let me show you my plans."

Kylo blinks, confused, but when he opens his eyes again he's suddenly very alone and very cold, surrounded by falling snow. With a start, he realizes he's somehow back on Starkiller Base.

_ Is this a dream? _

There's no reply. Kylo turns around slowly, gauging his surroundings, but suddenly he hears a noise in the bushes and he freezes.

Slowly peeking into the thick forest from the clearing where he's standing, Kylo spots a dark figure standing between the trees.

For some reason, the figure seems familiar. He reaches out, tries to sense some type of Force signature, but every time he gets close all he can sense is blackness, emptiness, coldness, and he has to pull back before he's sucked into the freezing nothing of whoever the person standing with their back to him is.

Abruptly, the figure turns, facing him.  _ Kriff,  _ Kylo thinks, but after a moment of scrutinization, he realizes that whoever it is doesn't seem to see him.

Instead, they seem to simply stare through him. He focuses harder on the obscured face beneath the black hood, still wondering about the intense familiarity he senses between him and whoever this mysterious figure is.

Before he can think any further a raspy voice echoes through the woods--the voice of the man showing him the vision. But, oddly, the voice doesn't seem to be speaking to Kylo.

"Kira," it booms. "Look at me."

"Yes, Master," replies the figure, and Kylo's heart sinks when he realizes who it is. She reaches into her cloak, procuring a black metal object.

With a flicker of fire and sound, it ignites, producing two shimmering red blades like Kylo's own lightsaber.

Rey flips the saber, and the blades snap onto either edge of the hilt. Kylo recognizes it as nearly an exact copy of the Sith lightsaber design Darth Maul used, but the twin red blades are unstable like his own.

"Strike," the voice orders.

"I will, Master Sidious," replies Rey, and with a jolt of electricity and understanding, Kylo finally realizes exactly who it is he'd been speaking to in his darkened throne room.

Rey twirls her saber, jabbing it hard into a tree and sending it down in an instant.

"Rey!" he screams, but her face is blank, her eyes showing no recognition or even acknowledgment that Kylo's calling her name. "It's--it's me!" he continues, his voice cracking with desperation. "Ben!"

Rey looks up, her hazel eyes cold, and they glint a pale yellow before Kylo finds himself falling with a  _ thud  _ onto the floor of his throne room, out of breath with tears filling his eyes.

Darth Sidious looks down on him, the beastly grin never having left his scarred face.

"You wanted her to turn," he says quietly, his voice barely above a whisper but piercing through Kylo's head all the same. "She will. Rey of Jakku will be yours... but you just have to follow me."

"No!" yells Kylo, tears streaming down his cheeks. "That--that wasn't--it wasn't  _ her!" _

Sidious shakes his head, frowning--and somehow it's worse than the smile.

"I thought you'd be different," is all he says.

Kylo finds himself alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! Don't forget to leave comments and kudos, those would mean the world to me :)
> 
> Go check me out on Tumblr: @flyingfalconflower12 and Twitter: @flyingfalconfl1 :DD


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